Gillian Genardo

Gillian Genardo received her Bachelor of Arts in theatre and a minor in history from Millikin University in 2022. Additionally, she received her Master of Science in theatre studies and a Graduate Certificate in women’s, gender, and sexuality studies from Illinois State University in 2024. She was the recipient of the Albert T. Mills Prize for an outstanding history student (Millikin University 2022) and the Michelle Chartier Award for excellence in theatre (Millikin University 2022).

Artistically, Gillian works as both a director and a dramaturg. Most recently, she directed Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead at Pipe Dreams Studio Theatre (2022) and worked as the dramaturg on The Pillowman and Frankenstein at Illinois State University (2023). Her research interests include: Restoration theatre, early modern England, and feminist studies. Her master’s thesis offered an historical analysis of womanhood and widowhood in early modern England alongside a literary analysis of the women in The Widow Ranter, The Rover, and The Luckey Chance in order to argue that Restoration playwright, Aphra Behn, viewed the widow as symbol of ultimate feminine power. Gillian’s research paper titled “‘No Page in Petty-Coat’: Women as Part of the Restoration Stage” was recently presented at both Illinois State University’s 2023 Graduate Research Symposium and Mid-America Theatre Conference’s 2024 Emerging Scholars Graduate Panel.